Sound & Sea

When boat owners talk, the hottest topic of discussion is usually their motors. In the boating world, motors get all the glory. They get anglers to their favorite fishing spots and back to the landing, so the glory is well-deserved, but that’s little help if you can’t stay on the right spot once you get there. Anchors have had their place on boats long before motors, and even though materials and shapes have changed, an anchor is still basically a heavy object tied to a rope.

Capt. Robert Olsen fed a black cable over the side of his boat by hand, announcing, “We’re anchored over livebottom now, and sheepshead are typically here this time of year. You can see the structure and some fish on the depth finder, but let’s get a closer look with the camera.”

Cold weather has been here for a while, and while these chilly days aren’t the most comfortable for anglers, they can provide some great inshore fishing. This time of year typically brings less rainfall than South Carolina has had in months, and along with vegetation that has died or is dying back due to the cold, that means crystal-clear water is usually easy to find. This is a plus for anglers, but not all anglers know how to take advantage of clear water.

The remnants of hot weather have played out, and even though plenty of good fishing remains, many anglers have winterized their boats and stowed their fishing gear until spring. But for many others, like Steve Chanilo of Murrells Inlet Outpost, the trout bite is too hot to keep them away. A growing trend for this month is to pursue trout on foot, focusing on areas that a boat is little to no help anyway.

Finally, some relief from the heat. That’s great news for anglers, because fish like the fall weather as much as those pursuing them. Cooler water has been pushing inshore for several weeks, and with some of the coolest nights South Carolina has seen in several months, conditions are right for catching a variety of species both inshore and nearshore.

Cooler water on the incoming tide turns the fishing from good to great in September, and the hottest action for saltwater anglers is around jetties, submerged rock piles and reefs. And while the air remains hot, the water is definitely cooling off, and that turns on every species of fish along our coast.

It’s no surprise that it’s hot. It’s August, so sweltering days are the norm, and a lot of anglers opt to stay indoors and wait for the fall bite. But ask Capt. Rob Bennett of Johns Island’s Lowcountry Inshore Charters about fishing this month, and you will get a different response. “I love August!” he will reply, followed by, “Fish with shrimp, and you can’t go wrong.”

Offshore anglers have used teaser rigs for decades, showing fish like dolphin and billfish multiple lures swimming together. Usually, the most-enticing lure is the only one with a hook, and the lures are arranged in a way to make that the most-likely lure to draw a strike.

Folks from all over the world head to Hilton Head every year in search of one thing; golf. Golf courses, condos, shopping centers, jet skis, and likely the greatest concentration of Ohio license plates outside of Ohio pretty much sums up the Hilton Head experience for most visitors. A lesser known fact is that Hilton Head is also home to some of the best tailing redfish flats in the state.

Every spring, especially in May, boats and anglers literally line up in the Broad River in hopes of catching a cobia. Commonly weighing more than 50 pounds, cobia are one of the biggest — not to mention tastiest — gamefish to visit South Carolina’s inshore waters, and the annual cobia run draws more and more anglers each year. Is catching a cobia worth dealing with the crowds? Absolutely; but there are much-less crowded alternatives a few miles away where the boats are fewer and the cobia even more plentiful.

Many anglers choose to keep their excursions down to a minimum during the colder months. Cold and South Carolina don’t necessarily go well together, so when spring returns, eager saltwater fishermen are not far behind it.

In recent years, South Carolina anglers have enjoyed some of the best speckled trout fishing ever, in terms of both numbers and size. A driving force was several mild winters since the last fish kill in January 2011, combined with behavioral changes in anglers.

The winter of 2014, however, has not been as mild, leaving many anglers and guides concerned.

“When fishing for reds is tough, seatrout can be a big day-saver, allowing me to put clients on a lot of fish consistently” said Capt. Owen Plair of Bay Street Outfitters in Beaufort.

Few saltwater anglers have not thought at one point or another about becoming a guide. This is especially true on days when the fishing is more than just a little good and everything comes together perfectly. The thing is, not every day on the water is perfect, the fishing is not always good and the ability to make things happen on days such as that is what sets guides apart from most other fishermen. As with any job, becoming a successful guide takes hard work and dedication, to be a great guide, it takes one more ingredient: passion.

Saltwater anglers up and down the South Carolina coast know how to deal with poor visibility. Stained inshore water is the norm most of the year, so if not using bait, your lure of choice needs to have something that will help the fish find it, like a heartbeat or a fish-attracting odor, but when the temperature drops, the water clears and the game changes.